Imagine Chris Hansen being caught with a minor or Albert Pujols juicing. Consider this a beautiful case of irony and yet another face palm moment for politics, more so the Republican party. Robert Watson, the minority leader of the Rhode Island House, is facing marijuana possession charges in Connecticut, a plant he figuratively laughed off months ago when the topic of its legalization arose. Hypocrisy and politics, who’d a thunk it?

A police report on Friday’s traffic stop said Watson smelled of alcohol and marijuana and performed poorly on sobriety tests. An officer found a bag of suspected marijuana and a wooden pipe in Watson’s pocket. An alcohol breath test performed at the police station determined that Watson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.05 percent, below the state’s 0.08 limit.

Watson was released on $500 bond. He faces a May 11 court date.

Watson issued a statement in which he denied he was driving under the influence. He said he was in Connecticut to help a friend move and was driving home from dinner when he was stopped.

“Trace evidence of marijuana was discovered and I was charged with operating under the influence, a charge I vehemently deny,” Watson said in the statement.

Read more over at News One.